As the Day is Long
by xasuim
Summary: Bella spends the summer living with her father, Charlie, in Port Angeles. When she arrives her father surprises her with a summer job. Thus begins her crazy adventures as a Guest Services representative at the Port Angeles mall.
1. Epilogue

_Author's Note_

Hi! So I haven't written in a long time and am a little rusty. This story is slightly based off some of my own personal life experiences, so let me know what you think.

Thanks!

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As the Day is Long

_Epilogue_

Bella finished taking her last final of the semester with a splitting headache. Summer vacation was about to start and she wasn't sure how to feel. She had just finished her third year at Arizona State University and was ready to pack up and move out of her dorm room.

The past two summers she had spent at home with her Mother, Renee, and step-father, Phil, but this summer things were different. A couple months back her Mom had decided that instead of staying home alone in their Phoenix home, she was going to travel around with her minor-league baseball playing husband for the summer. Due to this, Bella was scheduled to spend her summer living with Charlie, her father, up in Washington state.

When she first found out she balked; Bella loved Charlie but had never spent more than a week or two living under the same roof with him since she was a baby. April had just ended and the fall semester didn't start until the very end of August which left her with four whole months to spend with just Charlie. She could feel the boredom creeping up on her already.


	2. Chapter One

_Author's Note_

Hello! I just wanted to let you guys know that I plan on updating this story every other day, sometimes maybe even every day, so the chapters are going to be on the shorter side, but frequent.

Thanks!

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As the Day is Long

_Chapter One_

"So, I got you a job."

They had just finished up dinner and Bella was about to go load up the dishwasher when Charlie planted this bomb on her.

"Excuse me?" she gasped out, stunned.

She watched as Charlie's cheeks turned slightly pink. His right arm lifted and he started to rub the back of his neck. He leaned back in the wooden kitchen chair he was seated on, balancing it on its back two legs. He wouldn't look her in the eyes. It was obvious he was uncomfortable; Bella couldn't find it within her to feel sorry for him.

"Did you just say what I think you said?" She demanded.

Charlie sighed and dropped his chair back to all four legs.

"Oh come on, Bella," he started, "I thought you would be happy. I know it wasn't exactly your first choice to come and stay with me this summer, and so I thought I would try and do something to make your time more enjoyable."

"By getting me a _job_?" Bella's voice was strained.

She got up from the table then and began to scrape what was left on her plate into the trash. She could only imagine what kind of job he'd found for her. _Babysitting_? She hoped not, she's not so good with little kids. _Waitressing? _Hah, like that would last long with her balance. _So what—_

"I asked around town," Charlie cut in to her internal musings. "Being police chief here gives me lots of connections." He looked so proud of himself. Bella turned her back to him to start loading her plate into the dishwasher and rolled her eyes. After placing the dish on the rack she turned back around to face him.

"Yeah, so?" Bella pushed.

"Well," Charlie said with a smile, "I managed to find you a job at the Port Angeles mall."

_Oh great, retail. _Bella thought.

"It's a part-time gig working at the Guest Services desk there," Charlie explained further.

Bella stopped loading dishes and turned to face her father. She crossed her arms and stared at him, her stance defensive.

"Guest Services?"

"Yeah."

"Like what? Telling people where the bathroom is and the best place to buy kids' shoes?"

Charlie chuckled lightly. "Yes, well, probably."

"Probably?" One of Bella's thin eyebrows arched slightly.

Charlie shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I don't know exactly what the job entails. I just know you'll be working for Guest Services. Sue told me that they are desperate for more workers. You'll actually be doing her a favor by taking the job."

Bella noticed that when Charlie mentioned this Sue person his cheeks turned even pinker. This time both her eyebrows rose.

"Sue?"

Charlies cheeks turned red. He cleared his throat.

"She's the lead worker for Guest Services at the mall. She'll be your supervisor, I guess."

Bella had just arrived the day before and was ready for a long and relaxing, albeit boring, summer. _So much for that, _she thought. She stayed quiet for a minute or two as she thought it over. While she didn't exactly relish the idea of spending her time this summer at a mall, there were definitely some upsides to having a job.

"Anyway, you start Monday," Charlie broke her train of thought.

It was Saturday.

"So soon?" she whined. Even though the idea of having something to do for the next four months was starting to become appealing, she wasn't ready to let Charlie know that quite yet.

"Well, yeah," Charlie answered, "I told you they're desperate for workers. Plus, what else are you going to do? I'll be working all day anyway."

Bella sighed. She knew her father was right; he was going to be working everyday, and that would leave her alone in the house all day. Having a job would giver her something to do, a reason to leave the house. Maybe she'd even enjoy it, she mused, the extra cash definitely couldn't hurt either.

Bella gave in. "Yeah, okay." She paused, "but on one condition."

"What's that?" Charlie asked, a small smile playing on his mouth as his mustache twitched.

"If I hate it I reserve the right to quit," she stated firmly, "no questions asked."

Charlie thought for a moment before responding.

"Deal."


End file.
